Although there’s much to be disliked about the coming cold weather, there’s also a lot of exciting activities at this time of year. In some areas, there will be lantern parades, Christmas plays, and light displays. Most of all, it’s time for holiday shopping and Christmas fairs.
It’s exciting to plan what you could do this time. You might be hesitant to set up a food stall. Given many restrictions and the wariness of people because of the pandemic, things might have to be done a little more creatively and carefully to attract enough customers.
For a while now, people have preferred to open-air dining. But come the cold season, they will not be too thrilled to want to sit out in the open for a long time. But if your setup is warm and safe, you wouldn’t have trouble enticing the people who have been looking forward to some deviance in this too restricted situation.
Show them how you prepare the food
Among the primary concerns of people is the safety of how the food was prepared. You need to appease their concern by cooking the food where they could see you do it. Of course, you must be meticulous in your hygiene and safety measures when you do this. Although it might be uncomfortable, don a mask when cooking. Wear gloves. It doesn’t matter if they see you wash your hands. It’s the image of a person handling their food with their hands that might not sit well with them. Even the preparation of the ingredients should be safe too.
To protect your cooking show, you could put up a clear panel around your cooking area. That way, passersby could not easily access it and contaminate your preparations.
Use drapes to partition the diners
Having drapes would be helpful for two matters. It lessens the cold and at the same time, it helps in social distancing. Even if you are given some space to set up your tables in a community fair, it would not be very large. So you can save a bit on space if you put physical partitions between your diners.
Be creative though. You could position your diners around a bonfire. Brighten up with bulbs and candles so that the drapes would add to a romantic and cozy atmosphere instead of making it look gloomy. Just remember to use a fabric that’s fireproof to avoid accidents.
Use disposable dinnerware
Another concern of diners is how safe it is to use utensils that strangers have been using. So assure them that they’re not at risk by using disposable plates and utensils. But you don’t want to be harmful to the environment either. There are two options for this. The first is to use something that can, later on, be disinfected and repurposed.
Another is to use biodegradable materials that you could throw away like paper plates and cups. You could choose food that could be eaten with hands. Provide them with disposable gloves and table napkins. This way, you don’t have to worry about plastic spoons and forks.
Have a washstand and a dispenser for alcohol
Although not many would go out of their way to make sure their customers are well-protected, this added effort would not only be appreciated by your clients but would also contribute to the health situation. Most likely in outdoor fairs, toilets or washrooms would be far and instead of bothering to seek them, they’d rather not eat to avoid the necessity.
There are mobile sinks where you could store clean water in one part and wastewater in the other. Although having this would mean additional work because you would need to throw away used water and replenish the clean tank, it’s a very useful feature.
Clean the tables and chairs with a disinfectant
Contact with surfaces that had been used by different people is not advisable at this time. Be meticulous with the health protocols by properly cleaning and disinfecting your space regularly. As much as possible, disinfect the chairs and tables every after customer. But if that’s too much, make it every after two sets.
As had already been discussed, keep the tables and chairs distanced properly. Don’t overcrowd. Diners should still be at least a meter apart when sitting around a table.
We must follow health protocols and obey restrictions. But if your locality has deemed it possible to set up a food fair this holiday season, then it means it’s relatively safe to do so. If you put up precautionary measures, then you could leverage yourself with the fact that people will be craving for something outside their homes during this time of the year.
